Circular coaster



(No Model.)

J. DUNCAN.-

' CIRCULAR COASTE'B.

No. 396,472. Patented' Jan. 22, 1889.y

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UNITED STATES yPATENT OEETCE.

JAMES DUNCAN, OF COSHOCTON, OHIO.

CIRCU LAR COASTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 396,472, dated January 22, 1889.

` Application filed March 20, 1888. Serial No. 267,896. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J AMES DUCAN, la citizen of the United States, residing at Coshocton, in the county of Coshocton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circular Coasters, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in circular coasters intended for amusement of old and young, and belongs to that class of coasters which travel on a horizontal circular track by means of propellingpower other than gravity.

The invention consists, lirst, in the peculiar construction of the vehicle orcar, second, in

. the means of propelling it; third, in the adjustability provided for adjusting it to tracks of different diameters, and, fourth, in the arrangement and combination of the various other parts, all as more fully hereinafter described.

In the draw in which accompany this specilication, Figure l is a perspective view of the device as arranged for operation. Fig. 2 is a plan of the device with the body removed from the truck, and Fig. 3 is a side elevation.

A is the circular track or single rail.

B is the body of the coaster, made in any suitable form of a vehicle-body, preferably with a canopy or top, and this body is supported upon springs and provided with seats facing fore and aft, and suitable openings for ingress and egress. This body is supported upon the truck, consisting of the central part, C, which. directly supports the body, and the front and rear outriggers, D and E, which are hinged to the central part by means of the pivotal connection F, which is radially adj ustable, b'ut supports the Outrigger firmly in a horizontal plane.

` Each of the outriggers has journaled to it a supporting-wheel, G, and the central truck has journaled in it a main supporting-wheel, H, which is also the drive-wheel, and to which a suitable propelling device is applied, preferably for hand-lever propulsion-such, for instance, as shown in the drawings,where a is a single hand-lever pivotally secured to the truck and projecting inwardly into a slot within the body of the car, in suitable proximity to the operator, to applyl his power to the handle l) on the upper end. The lower end of this hand-lever is connected to a pitman, c, Which operates on the crank d, which is on the crank-shaft e, and whichv also carries the loose gear-Wheel f by means of the dog-and-ratchet engagement g, which transmits the motion only in one direction from the loose gear-wheel f to a pinion, h, on the shaft of the drive-Wheel. Thus the operator imparts motion to the drive-wheel by means of the connection described without impeding the momentum of the vehicle.

I is a suitable point of attachment or a stake in the center vof the track, and J is a radial tongue or rod secured at its outer end to the car, and at its inner end pivotally engaging the stake. This tongue is provided with the extension-joint K and with the lateral hounds L, which are pivotally secured at their outer ends to the outriggers and at their inner ends to the tongue by means of the radial adjustable connection M, all so arranged that by changing the tongue and hounds the vehicle may be adjusted to run on tracks of different diameters.

In connection withthe radial adj ustability of the pivotal connection F of the outriggers, which permits of the adjustment of the outrigger wheels in relation to the central truck, there is the radial adjustability provided in relation to the track, which is obtained by changing the pivotal point F to one of a series of holes provided therefor in the clevisplates F on the ends of the central truck. This adjustabil ity, in connection with the adjustability before described, permits of placing the outriggers in any desired relation to the radius of the track or to the Wheel of the central truck, for the purpose of counteracting the centrifugal and centripetal forces and to balance the device as much as possible without unduly straining the tongue or hounds.

That I claim as my invention isl. In a circular coaster, the combination, with the body, of two or more supportingwheels in circular alignment, outrggers adjustable on said body and each carrying one of the wheels, and of a tongue secured in radial relation thereto and provided with means for attaching it to a fixed point, substantially as described.

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2. In a circular coaster, the combination, withzthe body of the vehicle, of the supportin g-truck, in three Sections pivotally connected together, andcach provided with the supporting-Wheels adapted to be adjusted to dilt'erent circular alignment with each other, Substantially as described.

In a circular coaster, the combination, with the body of the vehicle, of the supportin g-trucl ,in three Sections pivotally con n eeted together, and each provided with the supporting-wheels in circular alignment with each other, of the radial tongue secured to the central part of the body, and of two hounds adj nstably Securing the end trucks with the tongue, Substantially as described.

4. In a circular coaster, the combination, 'with the singled-ail track,- o'f the body B, the Supporting-truck consisting of the central JAMES DUNCAN.

Witnesses C. A. LAMBERSON, I. B. DlLLIN. 

